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David F. Couch Ballpark is home to the Demon Deacon baseball team. The Deacons moved in to the facility before the start of the 2009 season after playing the previous 28 seasons on campus at historic Gene Hooks Stadium.
| David F. Couch Ballpark Quick Facts |
| Year Opened |
1956 |
| Renovated |
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2024, 2025 |
| Capacity |
3,559 |
| Dimensions |
LF-310, LC-370, CF-400, RC-367, RF-300 |
| Surface |
FieldTurf's DoublePlay Classic |
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Formerly known as Ernie Shore Field, the park was home to Winston-Salem's Carolina League minor league team for more than 40 years. Wake Forest took control of the facility after the team, now known as the Winston-Salem Dash, moved in to a new downtown ballpark.
Located in the shadow of BB&T Field and adjacent to the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Gene Hooks Field at David F. Couch Ballpark has undergone extensive and continuous renovations since the Deacons moved in.
Wake Forest added a new and exclusive premium seating option, the Deacon Deck, along the right field concourse ahead of the 2025 season
“We’ve become a destination program,” head coach Tom Walter said. “We’re a program that recruits want to come to and a program that people want to see. We’ve got players going on to professional baseball and having huge success. The energy in the ballpark here at The Couch is just awesome. Walking through that tunnel, seeing that crowd and feeling the energy of our stadium makes a big difference. We’ll see you at The Couch!”
Wake Forest's longtime partner, REVELxp, provides fans with an additional premium experience that includes all-you-can-eat tailgate food and non-alcoholic drink package with in-club delivery, as well as a private bar with beer and wine for purchase. The Deacon Deck includes loge-style deck seating with drink rails and allows for general admission access to also sit in sections 1-4. Additionally, the Deacon Deck features club space lounge seating with climate-controlling fans and heaters, HD televisions, and one McCreary Tower lot parking pass (per four tickets).
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons were greeted by the new Kentner Family Video Board ahead of the 2024 season. This state-of-the-art LED display in the outfield was made possible through a multi-million investment made by Pam (‘79) and Jeff (‘78) Kentner and their family.
Kentner is already one of the University's most generous donors in Wake Forest Athletics history. In 1997, Kentner made the largest single gift to the Touchdown 2000 athletics fundraising campaign. In recognition of that gift, the recently completed Campus Stadium, home to Demon Deacons track and field and field hockey, was named Kentner Stadium in his honor.
Regarding this specific video board project, Wake Forest Athletics partnered with Daktronics (NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota.
The new outfield video display measures 23 feet high by 43 feet wide and features an 8-millimeter pixel spacing to deliver high-resolution imagery and wide-angle visibility to fans in every seat. It features industry-leading environmental protection ensuring it operates as expected in the outdoors of the Wake Forest campus.
The display is capable of variable content zoning allowing it to show one large image or to be divided into multiple zones of varying content. This content can be any combination of live video, instant replays, statistics and game information, graphics and animations, or sponsorship messaging.
To make it easier for all fans to get to their seats handrails were installed in all stadium aisles at The Couch in 2024.
During the 2024 season, the protective netting was extended out to cover all fans in general admission seating from potential balls leaving the playing field.
Additional security cameras will be added to ensure the safety of fans attending games this season.
Funded by the generosity of a donor, Wake Forest completed its installation of KinaTrax ahead of the 2024 season, a markerless motion capture technology that delivers precise 3D imaging and biomechanical analysis.
Fans will see a number of cameras pointed at the pitching mound and home plate that the Wake Forest Analytics Team will use to capture data to enhance performance, prevent injuries, and monitor for fatigue in-game.
In February 2016, Wake Forest baseball park has been named David F. Couch Ballpark in honor of former baseball player David Couch ('84). A longtime supporter of Wake Forest Athletics and the baseball program, Couch made the lead gift toward the new $14 million Chris Hurd Player Development Center, which opened in February 2017.
Along the third-base line, the 41,000-square foot facility includes a team locker room, lounge, training room, equipment room, a full kitchen, professional players locker space, also including renovation and relocation of the home dugout and bullpen and the state-of-the-art pitching laboratory, complete with over 20 high-speed cameras designed to analyze the biomechanics of each player.
The lab came to fruition thanks for a partnership with Wake Forest Baptist Health and was one of the first of its kind in the country when it opened. The goal of the lab was to transform the future of America's pastime by combining baseball, science and medicine and is currently only open to Wake Forest University student-athletes.
The final installment of renovations made in February of 2017 added a video conference room, team meeting room, coaches offices, a Wake Forest baseball heritage area and an indoor batting facility.
"This facility is a complete game-changer for our program," head coach Tom Walter said. "Its impact on our team has been felt since we moved in downstairs prior to the start of the 2017 season, and now that the build out of the second floor is complete, and the pitching lab is up and running, our future looks even brighter. The foundation of our program is built around helping our players compete at the pinnacle of their ability level. Our responsibility in doing that requires us to give them all the information and resources necessary to be successful. With the addition of the Chris Hurd Player Development Center to David F. Couch Ballpark, our resources are the absolute best in the nation. The completion of this building takes us from great to elite overnight, and we are incredibly grateful to Chris and his family for their support."
Fundraising efforts are still underway for future phases of construction and renovations to David F. Couch Ballpark, including the 100'x100' indoor batting facility, which will be adjacent to the player development center and will be constructed without interior supporting posts, giving the Wake Forest coaching and training staffs maximum flexibility in their use of the space. Above the facility, plans call for renovations to the concessions stands and restrooms as well as a concourse-level viewing area that could be utilized for both Wake Forest baseball and football games and for other special events.
In 2015, Wake Forest converted its visiting locker room into a state-of-the-art weight room facility. Complete with benches, squat racks, dumbbells, plyometric equipment, and more, the weight room allows student-athletes to get all their work in without having to leave the stadium.
The Demon Deacons replaced the multi-colored chairback seats prior to the 2013 season, substituting modern all-black seats instead. In June, 2012, Wake Forest also completed the installation of a large-screen LED video board. The 18'x24' display offers pristine color clarity and brightness from every viewing angle. It has the ability to show one image or break the screen into several boxes highlighting both statistical information and game footage along with graphics and advertisements.
A massive construction project was completed prior to the start of the 2011 campaign. The project included replacing the natural grass playing field with a synthetic surface. The Deacons now play on AstroTurf GameDay 3D52H Grass, which is composed of polyethylene fibers and a base of rubber granules and sand. The surface, which covers the entire field except for the pitching mound, gives the Deacons a top-notch playing field all year round, regardless of the weather.
The 2011 construction project also included the installation of a manual scoreboard in left field. The scoreboard features a Marine-grade plywood front with Plexiglass openings for viewing the inning-by-inning and game scores. The scoreboard has LED lights for balls, strikes, outs and hit/error denotations, and it also has a climate-controlled interior. The manual scoreboard requires 191 individual signs to cover all possible variations of scores and team names.
The outfield wall was also lowered from its original height of 24 feet to eight feet. Instead of a traditional dirt warning track, the synthetic outfield surface rises gradually near the wall, allowing outfielders to know when they are approaching the wall.
Another addition to the facility was the construction of a climate-controlled indoor hitting facility, which was finished in early 2010. The facility, which Wake Forest players have access to 24 hours a day, can accommodate up to 10 hitters swinging at one time and also includes a natural clay mound for pitchers to throw off of. The facility also features two state-of-the-art home plate programmable pitching machines.
Wake Forest players also have access to state-of-the-art technology with the Trackman Pro video system with cameras set up on both the first and third base dugouts, center field and behind home plate. The system allows hitters to view their swings and pitchers their pitching motions following each game, and tracks 27 different data points varying from pitch velocity to spin rate to launch angle.
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